This was a tough one to get into, I tried many times but struggled. I'm not sure why, but something kept it on my shelf.

I'm doing the A-Z reading challenge and this happened to fit in nicely as I didn't have a G. I'm so glad that I persisted because it was a beautiful tale.

A story of immigration and folk law, once I got into it, it was such an amazing story. Well written, wonderful characters. I am not going to spoil it, but even shed a tear at the end.
3.5 stars

I've read Ghosh previously and know he isn't afraid of taking on big topics or giving readers a large cast of characters. Gun Island was no different. Everything about this book was interesting and important. I think it might be a challenge to readers unfamiliar with Ghosh's style or Bengali stories but if someone is up for a challenge, this could be it.

I am a huge fan of Ghosh so was excited to pick this up. Sadly this turned out to be a bit of a disappointment. The start was brilliant, I was fascinated by the Gun Merchant legend and his attempt at retracing the old temple and its significance. I loved all the details about the Sundarbans, such a magical place with all those rivers converging, and marshes and tigers still roaming, no wonder people created such fantastic stories around it. I enjoyed the little stories about local people, about their struggles, about the why behind so many people put themselves in danger just to emigrate. But that was about it.

2.5 stars
Currently this is my most overdue ARC at two and a half years late, oh the shame. I requested it because I had read and enjoyed his other books but I think the reason I took so long to start it was the original cover was so dour and dreary, I feared the content would be the same, so I delayed. It wasn’t quite as bad, but almost.

This is not one of his best works, it is filled with thin characters and crazy coincidences and the kind of meandering plot that struggled to hold my attention, it’s a wonder I didn’t put it down and never pick it up again mid way through. I can’t fault the prose though, it is beautifully written.

Set on three continents. Deen is a rare book dealer now living in New York and on a visit to the city of his childhood, Kolkata India, is introduced to the tale of the Gun Merchant and his encounter with Manasa Devi the Hindu Goddess of snakes. It is akin to scholarly and linguistic detective work as the various details in the story’s translation change it’s meaning as the narrative progresses. I guess some people may like that kind of thing but personally it did nothing for me.

This book tries to tackle all sorts of worthwhile topics, from the plight of the Irrawaddy dolphins to the risks people will take to seek their fortune abroad but it failed to make me care about any of it.

The climax was pretty much more of the same with unexplained happenings, both implausible and nonsensical.

What I liked:
It is beautifully written

What didn’t work for me:
Thin characters
Meandering plot
Too many coincidences to be plausible

Suitable For: Adults and Older Teenagers
Sex: None
Violence: Not really
Drug Reference: Some
Swearing: None

To Sum Up: A disappointment. If you like intellectual treasure hunts you might love this, but it wasn’t for me.

Review linked below scheduled to be published on 19th of May 2022

Gun Island is a beautifully written story about a rare book dealer Deen Datta, and how his trip to a small island in the Sunderbans sets in motion a series of events that affect him deeply, opening his eyes to the world around him - a world far beyond his own experience. His journey takes in history, folklore, magic, climate change and ecological disasters. We see how climate change has an effect not just on animals, but also on people - causing the refugee crisis and the consequent reaction of Europe - especially those countries who feel they’re most at risk of being overwhelmed by the flood of refugees.

Deen Datta certainly gets around on his journey. From New York where he lives, to the Sunderbans in India, then onto a California on fire and a more flooded than usual Venice. This could have been a book that preached about the perils of climate change, but it didn’t. It did lay the stark reality out for the reader, but this was just as much a part of the story as the relationships Deen has with the people he meets, and his friends. There is a real feeling that Deen doesn’t have a firm identity: he’s detached from his Bengali roots, and he doesn’t fit in to New York either. But I think he does feel a sense of belonging by the end of the book, with the help of his friends. Cinta, a Venetian, is an old friend, and someone who always seems to push him into doing what’s good for him. Then there are his Indian friends, Piya and Tipu who help him to learn new things about himself and the world he lives in.

I loved this book. It ticked a lot of boxes on my favourite themes list: the environment, India, history, folklore, the search for identity. It’s such a thought provoking, magical novel.

I read this book a long time go and forgot to write a review, I ended up re-reading the book which is an absolute delight. Its an exciting read that brings together very different cultures and ideas to work with our global crisis.

Following a book dealer, as he makes a vast journey, this book was strange, moving and thought-provoking.
Make no mistakes this book was beautifully written with full and real characters, both main and side. However, there was a lot going on, with attention bought to climate change, immigration and slavery but yet with elements of folklore and magic.
I can see why this book may not be for everyone - as magical realism often isn't, but I found it beautifully other worldly and very thought-provoking.

I've read a lot of Ghosh's fiction but this one was a bit dry for me, despite - or perhaps because of - the number of issues it raises. DNF

The story revolves around illegal trafficking and Climate change but not in the regular lines. The characters are veiled with mysticism and a parallel story runs that is set in the eastern part of India.

Couldn't quite decide if this was a mystical experience or an environmental impact statement. Not sure it worked on either front. Not for me.

The synopsis of this pulled me straight in. As a book lover finding out the main characters was a rare book dealer interested me. But this book is more than that it, it covers weighty environmental issues such as climate change and the refugee crisis amongst tales such folklore, a strange mix you might think but it works.
The characterisation was great with a lot of historical detail.
A story I enjoyed very much.
My thanks go to the author, publisher and Netgalley in providing this arc in return for a honest review.

I received an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley, John Murray Press, and the author Amitav Ghosh.
This was a strangely interesting book, which I found engaging but also a little messy. There is such a huge range of themes (including climate change, the migrant crisis, fantasy, culture, magical realism) that it felt distracted at times. It also ended very abruptly, leaving a feeling of incompleteness.
Worth a read, but not a favourite. 3 stars.

In my quest to increase the diversity of my reading, I sometimes pick up literary fiction from established, top-prize-nominated authors. This doesn’t always end well. While I like literary tropes, a lot of fiction acclaimed by high-end critics turns out not to be as good in my opinion as really good genre fiction. Sometimes, however, I’m pleasantly surprised. And sometimes I find a literary work that completely blows me away.

The story starts out innocuously enough. Brooklyn-based rare-book dealer Deen Datta is spending the winter, as he usually does, in Calcutta – the city where he grew up. Having been recently dumped from a long-term relationship, he is introduced to many eligible women of an appropriate maturity, but none catches his interest. As Deen attends one last family celebration before returning to the US, he is introduced to something altogether more intriguing: a new version of the legend on which he based his PhD thesis – and there’s a woman involved there too.

The legend in Bengali folklore tells of a merchant – a gun merchant in this new version – who offends a goddess and sets out on a series of journeys and adventures in an attempt to escape her wrath. Deen has long believed that the version of the legend he knows best dates in part from the seventeenth century and not the fourteenth as others have asserted. Now he has the opportunity to visit a shrine connected to this version that’s still newer to him and make a new friend along the way.

Piyali – Piya – Roy is another Bengali American, who is staying with the aunt of Deen’s friend, and who has been helping administer the charity set up by the old woman many years previously. The older woman knows where the shrine is, and the younger one is able to arrange transport. Deen is reluctant at first – he’s worried about missing his flight – but is soon persuaded to go. Along the way he meets up with a range of characters and discovers carvings on the shrine that seem to confirm the theories he expounded in his thesis. Sadly for Deen, events cut his expedition short, and he returns to the US fired up with his quest for knowledge but with no real evidence with which to further his research.

Brainstorming with an old mentor while at a conference, Deen slowly comes around to agreeing with her suggestion that the gun merchant might have travelled as far as her home city of Venice. He agrees to pay her a visit and there finds himself caught up in the fate of a group of migrants – some from the area he visited when exploring the shrine – and those who wish to help them in the face of strong popular opposition. He also meets Piya again, who is hoping fervently that one of her young friends is on a migrant boat reported to be heading for the Italian coast.

I loved the fact that although this book didn’t have any precise solutions to any of the real world problems it presented – natural disasters, loss of homes, and ecosystems, the displacement of large numbers of people who then wash up in a Europe that’s becoming increasingly unwelcoming towards them – it still managed to set an overall hopeful tone. I also appreciated the hints of magical realism interspersed through the story and the glimpses of different cultures surviving against all-natural and man-made opposition. I definitely want to find time to read the author’s earlier works now.

This is a hauntingly beeautigully written book. I found it quite eclectic at the beginning, but a third in was transfixed by the prose and language. I have not read Ghosh before but I am delighted to have found a new writer.

This book was a wonderful tale of fabulous happenings set in the modern world but with resonances back through time. Deen is startled out of his mundane life by a series of events that take him to many different locations and reflect many issues in the modern world from climate change to refugees.

Based on an ancient fable about the gun merchant, Deen follows an old story that takes him to new opportunities and understanding in places as far flung as Bangladesh, Los Angeles and Venice, and he goes through a modern-day quest that considers everything from the supernatural to the modern scientific, and in the attempt learns something about himself and his friends and family that he didn't have before.

The mixture of fable and fact is seductive and disorientating at the same time, and makes for a very enjoyable read. I like the slow pace of the beginning of the story and the revelations along the way, and when things speed up I would have liked a slightly slower pace to remain as I felt the final scenes, while having amazing impact, were a little bit rushed.

Overall a really enjoyable read, with plenty to think about once you reach the last page.

My thanks to John Murray Press for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘Gun Island’ by Amitav Ghosh in exchange for an honest review. My apologies for the late feedback.

‘Gun Island’ is a quiet work of literary fiction that weaves a powerful story through its rich imagery. Its narrator, Dianath (Deen) Datta, tells of his quest to understand the origins of a figure from Bengali folklore - ‘Bonduki Sadagar’, which could be translated as ‘the Gun Merchant’.

Deen had been born and raised in Calcutta (now Kolkata) but now as a dealer in rare books divides his time between India and New York. His journey takes him to a number of locations throughout the world. He encounters people along the way who not only further his quest but impact upon his quiet existence.

The narrative examines a number of contemporary issues; especially the impact of climate change upon the natural world and human society as well as the growing worldwide refugee crisis.

I found it a very lyrical novel with threads of spirituality and magical realism. These elements of mythology, folklore, the supernatural and synchronicity are blended with science and sociology. This might not be to everyone’s taste but suited me perfectly.

It’s a beautifully written, intelligent, multi-layered novel that I will likely revisit for a deeper appreciation. I also plan to read his earlier books , especially ‘The Great Derangement’, his 2016 nonfiction work that focuses on climate change.

I consider this to be literary fiction at its finest. It was not ‘art for art’s sake’ as so often literary fiction proves to be but was both accessible, engaging, and explored important contemporary issues.

Highly recommended.

Thank you to Netgalley and John Murray Press for this ARC copy

This is a real enigma of book, A Rubik's cube of unravelling narrative. The MC is an antiquarian book dealer who seems to do little that has actually anything to do with the buying and selling of books. He is a man with influence and at least some money who has influential friends and for whom intercontinental travel is par for the course.

His introduction to the Gun island and the gun merchant occurs as a desire to unravel a mystery that was told to him in Calcutta. It flits from there to the USA, to Italy and has tentacles in Bangalore. There are elements of ESP, of premonitions, ghost and guardian angels at times the whole almost feels like Magical realism. It also speaks to the problems of today - ecological disarray and the plight of refugees.

I would never be able to fully describe this book. The narrative is far from straight-forward and the characters can become confusing. It is one where I almost wanted a list to keep everything in its right and proper order.

Despite all this it was a book that really had me hooked. Each separate event lured me in and it didn't really matter that finding an overall connection or purpose in the narrative. I enjoyed every minute I never wanted to put it down and I would heartily recommend this to others. The writing is beautiful, it both haunts the characterisation and the soul of the reader. It is truly evocative. Probably the best book I have read recently but please don't ask me to describe it in less than 100 words.

I am not sure of the purpose of this novel. On the one hand, it's a lightly veiled exploration of the state of the world today - from the migration of those seeking better lives in Europe and the USA to environmental damage and climate change - and on the other it's a story of a man finding himself in a world that often seems wholly bewildering and unsafe - and then in a third spin it's an ancient Hindu legend brought to new life. It's not an easy read, either in content or form. It meanders along quite slowly and then suddenly several years have passed. The concept is a clever one, but it all moves a bit slowly, the mysticism is unnecessary and clashes with the reality of the migrants' struggles, so diluting the impact of their stories.
A bit of a mixed up mish-mash for me, sorry.
I will say, the insight of the author into the lives of those in the regions of India and Bangladesh affected so much by climate-change induced flooding is brilliant. It's a world we in the west know so little about and now I genuinely feel much better informed. The damage we are doing to both human and animal lives in this vulnerable part of our world is quite shocking, so thanks must to the author for highlighting this. And for the visit to Venice - a very different perspective to our usual tourist one.

Did nothing for me. Did enjoy the description of Venice which reflected my experience. But cared little about the hero or the story.

I wanted to like this book a lot more than I did. There are two main threads, environmental issues and people trafficking, but alongside this is a strange mix of mythology and a sort of supernatural element. It’s almost like the author can’t quite commit to the idea of a paranormal world so he hedges his bets. What you end up with is a novel that falls between two ideas, unsuccessfully for me.
I don’t believe in the paranormal but that doesn’t stop me enjoying this genre if it’s well done. I’m also as interested as the next person in climate change and refugees. In this book any points the author is trying to make is lost in a fudge of waffle.
The main character is just annoying and drifts through the story without generating any kind of empathy. In fact I didn’t really warm to any of the characters because there was no real depth to them.
This is an experienced, admired author so either I’m missing something or this book is not a good example of his work. Whilst I can appreciate his writing skill the novel just bored me.